F.Y.I.

By ED BOLAND Jr.

Published: September 1, 2002

Q. The new movie ''Signs'' deals with ''alien'' crop circles, which were revealed as hoaxes years ago. Have there been any giant hoaxes in the history of New York?

A. As a city well supplied with pranksters, hustlers and con men, New York has seen its fair share of ruses, but few have caught the city's imagination more than the moon hoax of 1835.

On Aug. 25, 1835, The New York Sun featured a front-page article announcing ''Great Astronomical Discoveries.'' According to The Sun, The Edinburgh Journal of Science reported that Sir John Herschel, the British astronomer, was testing a new type of powerful telescope at the Cape of Good Hope and making remarkable discoveries on the moon. A series of articles then went on to report some of Sir John's supposed discoveries, including vast forests, lakes and seas, bison wandering across grassy plains, blue unicorns and a race of winged humans that were dubbed Vespertilio-homo, or man-bat.

Camps of believers and dissenters popped up instantly and had fierce arguments. Rival editors began reprinting the stories. And a group of missionaries resolved to travel to the moon to convert the bat men. The day of the first article, The Sun had a daily circulation of 15,000; four days later The Sun had the largest daily circulation of any newspaper in the world, at 19,360.

Of course none of it was true. The Edinburgh Journal of Science had suspended publication well before the moon articles appeared and Sir John was unaware of the remarkable discoveries being attributed to him. It was an editor at The Sun, Richard Adams Locke, who was behind the fantastic stories.

On Sept. 16, 1835, The Sun issued a statement saying it was possible the stories were not true, but they couldn't be sure without the confirmation of English or Scottish papers. That confirmation never came but it did not seem to lessen interest in The Sun, which never lost its increased circulation.

Landmark of Despair

Q. What and where is the Octagon Tower?

A. Although it is in near ruins, the Octagon Tower still stands on the northern part of Roosevelt Island across the East River from East 77th Street. The building, designed by Alexander Jackson Davis, was the centerpiece of the Pauper and Lunatic Asylum, which opened in 1839. The Octagon was the asylum's main entrance hall and one of the city's grandest interiors.

The architecture, however, failed to impress Charles Dickens who, after a visit in 1842, wrote in his ''American Notes'' of the ''lounging, listless, madhouse air.'' Even more repulsed was the journalist Nellie Bly, who feigned insanity to get into the asylum and gained national recognition with a series of articles detailing her harrowing experience.

After Bly's reports, the asylum was deemed insufficient to handle mental patients, who were transferred to Wards Island, and the building was occupied by Metropolitan Hospital until 1955.

The hospital's wings were demolished, leaving only the Octagon Tower, which was designated a city landmark in 1975. Fires and vandalism have left the Octagon in its current desperate state but the Roosevelt Island Operating Corporation is currently reviewing plans to refurbish the building.

Fight Fiercely, Harvard?

Q. New York has had a number of pro football teams. Which was the first?

A. The first of 17 professional football teams to represent New York City at one time or another was Brickley's New York Giants, founded in 1921 by Charles Brickley, who had been an all-American at Harvard.

Pro football in New York City got off to a rough start as Brickley's Giants played two games in their only season, losing to the Buffalo All-Americans, 55-0, and the Cleveland Indians, 17-0. ED BOLAND Jr.